Fox gives a guffaw and says, “Are you out of your mind Rabbit?” “No!” says Rabbit, “Come down to my lair and see.”

They go below and the sound of a furious battle ensues, ending with a cry of pain and then silence. Shortly after Rabbit reappears gnawing on a fox bone and resumes typing. Half an hour later a grizzled old wolf shows up.

They go and sounds of battle emanate from the ground, growls, and yelps, and finally silence. Shortly, Rabbit appears, pats his tummy, burps and then goes back to his laptop.

An hour later a bear shuffles into the clearing.

“Lovely morning Rabbit!” “A wonderful day Herr Bear!” “What are you doing on that laptop Rabbit?” “I working on my PhD dissertation!” “Excellent! What’s your topic?” “I’m looking at how rabbits eat bears.” “You expect to get this garbage published Rabbit?” “No problem, come below and see for yourself.”

They go below, and as bear’s eyes get use to the dark he sees in one corner a pile of fox bones, in another a pile of wolf bones, and on the far side a huge lion picking his teeth.

And the moral of the story.

It doesn’t really matter whether you have a genuine topic for a thesis. It doesn’t matter if you don’t manage to do ground-breaking research. It doesn’t even matter if it’s basically garbage. Just as long as you have the right person as supervisor!